Jeff Tash is the ITscout.
This blog presents his 'personal opinions' about
technology, politics, architecture, and stuff.
posted by ITscout at 5:25 PM
In addition to the ITscout Blog, I maintain the ITscout web site which organizes information about IT products and vendors based on a 3-layer/4-model Technology Architecture framework.
I am also CEO of Flashmap Systems, Inc., but the ITscout Blog is not a corporate blog -- it's a personal blog. The views expressed on the ITscout Blog are not those of Flashmap Systems.
Previously, for over twelve years, I was President of Hewitt Technologies, a Division of Hewitt Associates. Prior to that I was employed by Digital Equipment Corp, IBM Corp., Control Data Corp., and Arthur Young & Company.
I have lectured internationally to tens of thousands of IT professionals. Also, more than a million copies of my ITscout Roadmap wall posters have been distributed worldwide. I am currently a Microsoft MVP Architect and an IASA Fellow.
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2 Comments:
Your program will get off to a bad start if you think governance and communication are number one problems. Lack of strong technical leadership should be addressed first...
That is very true. I'm a technical guy myself.
Every solution has to pass three tests. It must be politically, financially and technically acceptable to all participants.
In my experience, "politically" is about 60%, "financially" is about 30%, and "technically" is about 10%. YMMV
Often the "political" opponents will band together with "financial" supporters to really overwhelm "technical" supporters.
I thought by concentrating on Governance and Communication, aided by Flashmap Systems tools, the usual political roadblocks could be minimized.
The same project politics can create "project loss of direction and scope creep" over time.
Having a clear picture to present to everyone can clear the hurdles and landmines of getting the required signatures.
Ordinarily a picture is worth a 1000 words. For EA, a picture can be worth 1,000,000 words.
While Flashmap Systems does not provide this picture directly, as per Jeff Tash in a comment on this Blog because I asked him, it can build a repository,
database, whatever you want to call it, of solutions. What I want and need is a way for "political" and "financial" participants to view these "technical"
solutions in the "light of their own best interests".
I apologize for the highly charged political nature of the Visual Information Architecture example I am giving. Ignoring the subject matter,
it is a great example of what I need Flashmap Systems and EA to do to overcome "political and financial" resistance to technical excellence.
http://www.motherjones.com/bush_war_timeline/
I can not stress how wonderful an example of applied Visual Information Architecture this is.
The "years" timeline could be the company Portfolio Management positions. The "months" could be Lines of Business (LOB). Next could be the
IT Portfolio Management position and Implementation of Enabling Technology in support of this company position and LOB.
Or the "years" timeline could be ROI. The months the TCO of the company position, the LOB and the IT position. Etc...
The point is that with the combination of the Flashmap Systems EA tools and the Visual Information Architecture tool you could show each participant
where their money was being spent and the expected return. You could just give them this and let them play with it to their own satisfaction. You can
do "as is" and "to be" scenarios. It's not rocket science.
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